The City of Minnetonka Parks and Trails Division Manager has asked me to post this draft geocaching policy he plans to present soon to the park board. Please feel free to comment and I will pass pertinent comments back to him.

Quote:

Geocaching is allowed on park facilities. Caches will be electronically
reviewed to ensure they are on park facilities and are not placed in an
area that may cause damage to environmental conditions or interfere with
maintenance and operation of park facilities. Caches must have the name
of the cache on the exterior and must not be buried. Park hours apply
to those hiding and seeking caches. Caches having an undue impact on
park facilities will be removed. Caches must not contain items that are
offensive, dangerous or perishable.

The City of Minnetonka Parks and Trails Division Manager has asked me to post this draft geocaching policy he plans to present soon to the park board. Please feel free to comment and I will pass pertinent comments back to him.

Quote:

Geocaching is allowed on park facilities. Caches will be electronically
reviewed to ensure they are on park facilities and are not placed in an
area that may cause damage to environmental conditions or interfere with
maintenance and operation of park facilities. Caches must have the name
of the cache on the exterior and must not be buried. Park hours apply
to those hiding and seeking caches. Caches having an undue impact on
park facilities will be removed. Caches must not contain items that are
offensive, dangerous or perishable.

Thanks for posting this SJ.

These questions are for the MnGCA board - I'd rather that you (SJ) not pass them on directly, but rather let the board come up with a unified response.

I'm curious how one submits the cache to the park? Are they monitoring gc.com placements, or is the cacher supposed to contact them, and if so, how?

If the cacher is submitting them to the park (say through email), is prior approval required, or just notification after the cache is placed?

This is a nice policy IMHO - it's as open as you can really get._________________Hmm...

I think that if they are going to require that something be written on the outside of the cache it should be "GEOCACHE" rather than the cache name. If the purpose of this requirement is to identify to authorities and/or people who stumble across the container that it is just a cache and not something more sinister "GEOCACHE" would be more clear than "Minnetonka Park 8".

If they mean they'll just review them on gc.com -- that would be fantastic. So much less cumbersome than registering. If adopted this would be a great one to reference in future discussions with cities. I was afraid Minnetonka would go the same route as Eden Prairie and if they are willing to monitor caching that way instead -- that's a great precedent for other cities.

Are they properly informed that people may place caches on their city's porperty that require payment to a private corporation in order to obtain the coordinates? In effect operating a concession on their property? Most local governments have an ordinance or policy regarding such and they should be fully informed.

Are they properly informed that people may place caches on their city's porperty that require payment to a private corporation in order to obtain the coordinates? In effect operating a concession on their property? Most local governments have an ordinance or policy regarding such and they should be fully informed.

What are you talking about? You do not have to pay to get coordinates.

Are they properly informed that people may place caches on their city's porperty that require payment to a private corporation in order to obtain the coordinates? In effect operating a concession on their property? Most local governments have an ordinance or policy regarding such and they should be fully informed.

What are you talking about? You do not have to pay to get coordinates.

I'm guessing they are referring to premium member caches. To me it's a non-issue._________________Hmm...

The City of Minnetonka Parks and Trails Division can not ban Member Only caches in Minnetonka. They can only ban them on the property they manage.

It is a moot point at this time, but any policy that they make in the future only impact the land that they manage. Seems that a few of the newer cachers believe that if a policy exists for one entity that it applies to the entire area._________________Airborne All the Way!

The reason that MOCs were banned in some areas came from the simple fact that land managers would not be able to see MOC caches if they didn't have a geocaching.com premium account._________________Sad state of affairs.

Having gone through this with my own city, and reading SJ's post, it seems this is a great policy - a dream! Sounds like it's reaffirming gc.com policy instead of inventing it's own. I agree "Geocache" on the outside makes more sense than the name of the cache. The cities are all looking at each other's policies and copying without really thinking about small details like that. What the first one did, they all do just because.

If it does get to a point where Minnetonka, or any other entity requires permission, then it should also be written the time expectation for notification of approval or denial. Spoken from personal experience!